Source: Instagram

More than a decade ago, salon owners felt the beginning of a seismic shift in how they schedule their employees.

Four-day work weeks were created, stylists were given every other Saturday off, benefits were added—and the changes worked. Team members were happier with their schedules, guests still booked with their preferred time and stylist, and owners grew their businesses.

But those changes were just the beginning.

Enter Gen Z

“This generation is all about experiences,” says Scot Robinson, co-owner of two Pavo Salon locations in Memphis, Tennessee. “And they want their workplace culture to translate into an experience of flexibility and autonomy. 

They are aware of money, but it’s not their driving motivator.”

Shawn McGhee, Pavo co-owner, says, “You have to think about what kind of experience you’re giving your team. We keep our team engaged with quarterly adventures like concerts, ziplining, movies and other events that are open to everyone—they want to feel connected to the people they work with.”

But most importantly, McGhee and Robinson have given their team control.

Letting Go

Pavo already had a schedule in which stylists rotated Saturdays and Mondays for a three-day weekend.

“We did that in our Millennial phase, and it was working,” Robinson says.

“But recently, we took off the guard rails and allowed the team to create their own schedules—a scary move on our part, but it’s what we needed to do.

“And giving up control has allowed us to focus on what we enjoy as opposed to freaking out if four people are out on a Saturday,” he adds. “It was a big mindset shift for us, but we had to look at our reality.”

Robinson adds, “We do still have parameters, but stylists get to manipulate their schedules within those parameters.”

Holly Thalman, owner of three K. Charles & Co. locations in San Antonio, Texas, says her salon’s scheduling is structured, but she recently made a big change to benefit her stylists who have been with her 10 years or more or are at the elite level.

“These are the stylists most likely to go out on their own, so we did away with all PTO and required work hours,” she says. “These people are adulting big-time. They have mortgages and car payments, and need to make a certain amount of money—so they self regulate.”

Stepping Up

Thalman has found that even though some of her team members have unlimited PTO, they’re still putting in the hours.

“If they go on vacation and need three weeks off, they’ll work before or after that time so they get the money, and the vacation is balanced out,” she says.

“It encourages them to think ahead and it’s less hassle for my leadership team, who used to deal with last-minute requests when stylists were out of PTO,” she says. 

Now when stylists with unlimited PTO take time off at the last minute, they have to call their guests themselves, a task they’re not particularly fond of.

“They plan ahead rather than have to call guests last minute,” she says.

Robinson and McGhee are also seeing their team members take more responsibility.

“Let’s say we have Jasmine working full time with two morning and two afternoon shifts and alternate Mondays and Saturdays,” McGhee says. “If she wants to take time off, she can, but she must communicate it to us, contact her guests and work a different shift to cover the time.”

Robinson adds, “We coach them on how to contact the guest and reschedule, but it’s simple with SalonBiz.”

Pavo has been using this new system of scheduling for more than a year and grew by a million dollars last year.

“It works,” Robinson says. “We go over numbers with the team so they are accountable and know they have to meet goals—but they can do it during a schedule that works for them.”

McGhee says, “Before, we had all these rules they needed to follow. Now, we’ve shifted into focusing on the end result and whether their behaviors are in alignment with what they want.”

Recruiting New Employees

Abandoning old norms and rules also brings the added benefit of setting your salon apart from the competition.

New stylists at K. Charles only have to work 18 months to two years before they start working a four-day work week and get every fifth Saturday/Tuesday off, for a long weekend.

“Our training program is also attractive because it’s only 12 weeks and then they hit the floor as a studio stylist,” Thalman says “We pay them on their dedicated education days and they get on the floor faster, which makes money for the salon.”

Thalman’s strategy has paid off.

“We hired 14 new hairdressers last year,” she says. 

“Typically our retention would be 50 percent, but we kept nine of them, which is pretty remarkable.” 

Robinson says new recruits are thrilled when they hear how much control they’ll have over their schedules at Pavo.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re an apprentice or veteran, they all get the  freedom to set their own schedules,” he says.

It may sound like jumping off a cliff, but Robinson says most people like structure and 80 percent of the Pavo team have continued to work the schedules they’ve always had.

“It’s a small percentage of people who take advantage of the flexibility all the time,” he says.

McGhee adds, “But knowing they have that flexibility is everything. It takes a lot of pressure off the employee/employer relationship.”

Robinson and McGhee say letting go of their own past experiences was key to giving their team more autonomy over their schedules.

“You have to let go of everything you know that binds you from moving forward,” says Robinson. “Business works in all kinds of ways, not just the way you created 10 or 20 years ago. But you have to give change a chance.”